Railway-tie.



t. wf FULLARD.

RAILWAY TIE. APPLICATION FILED n3. 1?-, 1,910.

Patented June 6 IIIIIII Il tain new and useful Improvements in Railwhichwhen originally assembled, will pos- UNiTED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

WILLIAM FULLARD, OF NORTH PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 0FO1\T1L'IIIIRDr l TO MICHAEL E. LYNCH AND ONE-THIRD TO MICHAELHARRINGTON, 0F :BLOOM- FIELD, NEW JERSEY.

RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Y Patented June 6, 1911,

Application led March 17, 1910. Serial No. 549,833.

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, WILLIAM FULLARD, acitizen of the United States, residing at North Plainfield, in thecounty of Somerset and State of New Jersey, have invented' cerway-Ties,of which the following is a specification, reference being had thereinto the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to railway ties and more particularly to a type oftie embodying therein a metal base.

The main object of the invention is to pro-' vide a railway tie whereinthe portion thereof embedded in the ballast will be of metal so as toprolong the life of the tie by avoiding decay or destruction by worms orinsectsand yet will present a relatively immovable wooden portionto'which the rails may be spiked thus preserving4 that resiliency in thesupport for the rail which is desirable in railway practice. y i

A further object is to provide a railway tie of the character abovereferred to wherein the wooden rail-supporting portion will be capableof adjustment independently of the metallic portion of the tie, whilebeing incapable of displacement due to the weight of passing trains orthe vibration resulting from such trains. j

A still further object is to provide a tie having a metallic i sheathingand wooden supporting blocks therein, which will be capable of beingraised or lowered in its entirety by tamping the ballast thereunder orremoving it therefrom, inthe usual manner, and wherein the wooden trucksupportingblocks may be adjusted'without removing the tie from the roadbed. j j

A still further object is to provide a metallic railway tie providedwith cushioning blocks adapted to support the rail, the metallic portionof the tie being continuous and integral, and so constructed las toengage the foot of each rail and preventl the spreading Vof the rails.

A still further object is to provide a tie sess allu ofthecliaracteristicsof an ordinary wooden tie, all of the parts thereofbeing capable of being locked together so as to prevent displacementboth during transportation and after being laid. Y i

.A still further object to provide sa metallic tie provided with woodenrail supports having relatively lsmaller dimensions, whereby, after wearupon the wooden supports has made them unsuitable for use, they may Vbereplaced without disturbing the metallic portion of the tie and at smallcost compared to the cost of the ordinary wooden tie as now almostuniversally used. And a still further object is toprovide a railway tiein combination with a fish ,plate which combination will serve to notonly support the rail upon renewable wooden supports in a metallic base,butwill prevent the creeping of the rails and thus relieve the spikesattaching the rails to the cushioning wooden rail supports from thestrains incidental to such creeping. K

My invention consists primarily in a railway t-ie comprising a base ofchannel metal extending transversely of the rails, and rail sup-portsconsisting ofindependent wooden blocks adjacent to the opposite ends ofsaid base and seated within said channel; and in such other novelfeatures of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter setforth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claimhereto appended.

Referring to the drawings r-Figure l is a side view of a tie embodyingmy invention,

the channel base being broken yaway adjacent' to the ends,'this viewshowing a joint in one rail; Fig. 2 is a perspective viewpof one tiewith only'one supporting block shown; Fig.

3 is an end view of adjacent ties kat a joint in shown in the drawings,a b indicates thek two rails of a track which are the ordinary type usedin the'United States, having a foot c and a head d. l

At e 'e I have shown adjacent'tiesI which ties are identical in theirconstruction so as to make it necessary to describe only one of them.This tie consists of a metallic base f of'a length greater than the gageof the track, and ismade of channel stock of sufficient' thicknessto.,fwithstand the ordinary conditions of use, while insuring economy ofproduction. Extending from the bottom of parts throughout A thischannel, toward the middle and the ends thereof respectively, are aplurality of drain holes f', and the sides of the base are cutdownwardly as shown at f2, at the point corresponding with the locationof the rails, the width of this cut corresponding with the width of thefoot c of the rails, which arrangement will cause the said rail foot toengage the sides of said openings and thus iX them at the proper gage aspredetermined by the accurate production of the channel stock formingthe tie base, an arrangement which will insure greater accuracy than canbe secured by the method now ordinarily employed, and with greaterrapidity. The base f thus serves to withstand the deterioratinginfluences of contact with the road bed and at the same time serves toaccurately line up the track and prevent the spreading of the rails. Ametallic tie, however, has many disadvantages, such as its subject tofracture under heavy load, its lack of resiliency, and its acousticproperties as well as the expense and inconvenience due to the greatweight of the tie. A channel tie such as I have described, would havethe further Vadvantage that if the side of the channel were relied uponVto sustain the weight of the train as well as the rails, they wouldrapidly break down and thus be impracticable. To obviate thesediiicult-ies I provide adjacent to each pair of out away portions f2 acushioning block upon which the rails are seated, and spiked. Thiscushion block projects above the bottom of the openings f2 thuspermitting a considerable wear upon the cushion before it is necessaryto raise the same. These cushioning rail supports being seated withinthe channel as described are incapable of displacement longitudinally ofthe track and are held against lateral displacement by the engagement ofthe foot c of the rail with the sides of the openings f2. To prevent avertical movement of this support, I provide spike openings ]@3 in theside of the channel base f by mea-ns of which spikes may be driven intothe said rail supports to secure said supports firmly in their positionin said base.

The foot of the rail rests upon the cushioning rail supports, and `thuspresents in the tie all of the advantages of the ordinary Wooden tie asto resiliency, diminution of sound'and the attachment of the rail. Theemployment of the spikes t' passing through the'side opening f3 permitsthe use of rail supporting blocks of about a foot in length, thusreducing the volume of wood entering into the tie, and thus permittingthe use of timber for the manufacture of tlietie, which heretofore hasbeen impossible. The said "blocks may be of any desired suitable kind ofwood, and may be treated in any desired manner to prevent theirdestruction by climatic conditions or insects, the size of the cushionsupporting blocks reducing the cost per tie of such treatment.

In laying a rail it is not always possible to accurately level up theroad bed or the ties, or to preserve this level; and to meet thiscondition, I make each rail supporting block independently adjustable asto height, by constructing it of two cooperating wedge-shaped members gg, the coperating faces of said sections extending laterally of therail, and both sections being confined at the sides, by the sides of thechannel base f, the aggregate height of both of said blocks beingnecessarily less than the height of the sides of said base to permit theprojection of the foot c of the rails through the angular cut awayportions f2 of the sides of said base. The side openings f3 are at leasttwo in number, one being provided for each portion g g of the cushioningrail support, thus permitting the locking of both of said sections tothe base.

It will be Vobserved that the cushioning rail supports form practicallya portion of a structure having all of the characteristics of anintegral tie, and in addition thereto the anti-rail-spreading featuresand the adjustability independent-ly of the road bed, thus permittingthe take up of any wear which may occur upon the rail supportingcushions, or theleveling of the track by the ordinary method of tampingor the operation of the wedge sections g g without the necessity fortaking up the tie, thus preserving all of the desirable characteristicsof the tie necessary for the convenience of the section gang.

At each end of the sides of the channel base f I provide openings f4 inwhich picks or other implements may be inserted for the purpose ofadjusting the tie laterally.

The rails may be attached to the blocks g g in the ordinary manner andthis attachment irrespective of the accuracy in' creeping, I Aprovide aspecial form of fishV plate having especial adaptability with my tie andhaving no adaptability in other connections, said fish plate beingcomposed of the ordinary angle side webs k and feet 71X, adapted toproject into adjacent ties and engage the sides thereof, being attachedto the adjoining ends of the rails by bolts in the usual manner and therail supporting blocks in adjacent ties by spikes. It will thus beobserved that the ties themselves take up all the longitudinal strainsresulting in a tendency of therails to creep. The web v, between thefeet 7i spans the space between adjacent ties. If desired, a groove h2may be formed in the inner face of the flanges 7L, for the purpose offorming a channel for the electrical bond wires.

The operation of my tie is substantially as follows :-In laying theties, the road bed is prepared in the usual manner and the ties trued upas the rail is placed, the foot c of the rails being seated within theopenings f2 of succeeding ties, thus insuring absolute alinement of therails and frequent reinforcement preventing the spreading thereof. Therails and the ties in first laying, are leveled up by tamping, thecushion supporting blocks g g being in new ties of uniform predeterminedheights and secured in place by means of spikes c' passing through t-heside openings f3. The blocks g g support the rails so as to hold thebottom of the foot c thereof free of the metallic base f. When the railshave been properly trued and leveled up they are spiked in place in theusual manner, the spikes entering both portions g g and supplementingthe action of the spikes z' in preventing a loss of level through therelative movement of the wedge-shaped portions g g. rlhe iish plates areattached l at the rail joints in the usual manner, it being necessary toexactly space the adjacent rails with which the feet h of said platescooperate.

If it becomes necessary for a section gang to level up any particulartie this may be done by tamping in the usual manner or if wear hasoccurred upon the upper rail supporting block g the rail spikesindicated at j and the spikes 71 may be removed and said portions g gdriven toward each other so as to raise said block only, the variousspikes being replaced when the rail has been properly leveled. It willbe observed that this readjustment of the supporting block may beaccomplished without displacing the base j', the parts being readilyaccessible to a section gang by merely removing a portion of the ballastadjacent to each or either end of the tie, thus minimizing the laborrequired of a section gang in effecting repairs.

A tie of this character may be used with any character of ballast, ispractically as noiseless as the ordinary wooden tie and possesses all ofthe characteristics of resiliency inherent to a wooden tie, while havinggreater durability and requiring less cost of transportation when it isnecessary to renew the rail supporting cushion. Furthermore, thesecushions will possess greater durability than the ordinary ties. 'Ihelower portion thereof g1, is protected from the action of the ground bythe sheathing afforded by the metallic channel base f, and when theother section g becomes so worn across the portion thereof on each sideof the middle, to an extent to preclude a further use of this portionas'a rail seat, the position of the portions g g may be reversed thusgiving to each portion two or three times the life of the ordinary tieby reason of this reversibility and the presence of the protectingsheathing.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details ofconstruction shown in the accompanying drawings, it being apparent thatsuch showing is merely a matter of design and may be varied to meet. thespecial requirements of any particular condition of use.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to haveprotected by Letters Patent, is

A railway tie comprising a base of channel metal adapted to extendtransversely of the track, a cushioning rail support consisting ofindependent wooden blocks adjacent to the opposite ends of said base andseated within said channel, each said block consisting of a plurality ofsuperposed copcrating wedges, and removable means locking each of saidblocks in position relative to said base and each other, the sides ofsaid channel base adjacent to each of said blocks being cut awayvertically at the top for a depth sufficient to cause the rail to restsolely upon said block and to engage the sides of said cut away portion.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 9th day ofMarch, 1910, in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM FULLARD.

Witnesses:

MICHAEL E. LYNCH, P. FRANK SONNEK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

